by Itunuoluwa Adebo

President Donald Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon, has been removed from his permanent seat at the National Security Council.

The decision, according to one source was made by Trump himself, comes after the President in January authorized the reorganization of the National Security Council to include Bannon as a permanent member of the panel. In a regulatory filing posted Wednesday, Bannon’s title was removed from the standing list of members of the National Security Council.

The move is a demotion for Bannon and a win for H.R. McMaster, who Trump picked in February to lead the council after Michael Flynn was fired for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about undisclosed contacts he had with Russian operatives.

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Multiple sources looked to minimize the removal. One argued that Bannon was put on the council to ensure that it no longer “micro-managed” foreign policy and was put on a more “operational track.”

Another said Bannon was on board to oversee former national security adviser Mike Flynn’s work to “de-operationalize” the National Security Council. Flynn, after his undisclosed contacts with Russian operatives were revealed through media reports, resigned from the council in February. A source with knowledge of the move said Bannon can “still attend any meeting” where his expertise is needed and in all the time he was there, he only attended one principals’ meeting”.

Elevating Bannon in the first place was a controversial decision because, at the same time, the order indicated that the director of national intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would not be regular attendees.

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Itunuoluwa